All For You and You Alone
by TheEvilPeaches
Summary: Everything he has ever done, he has done for her, yet she is the only thing he cannot have. Bane/Talia
1. Choices

**AN: **OMG, I wrote Batman fic. Not only that, but I wrote Bane/Talia fic. I never thought I would see the day, but after seeing TDKR, I realized that Talia and Bane just have to be written because that tidbit in the film was not freaking enough!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of these characters.

**Warnings: **Mentions of rape (not of Talia) and violence. Later on, age gap relationship and probably graphic sexual content. Oh dear. Some of you know how I roll.

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**All For You and You Alone**

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Darkness is all he knows and she was born into it, into his world. A child, so small and defenseless, so unlike himself. It is an unusual sight in The Pit, a woman giving birth. It is a feat that most thought to be impossible and yet it happened anyway. Bane scoffs, knowing this woman will not last long in this world of sin and hate. No one so weak ever does. He glances across the prison and stares at the mother and her child with baleful eyes, wondering how long the woman will be able to keep her child alive in this hell hole. He rolls his eyes away thinking, _foolish. _

But he is still a boy, not yet a man and he doesn't understand the lengths a woman will go to defend her child, not yet.

Most women in The Pit break after unwanted advances upon their bodies. It is beyond Bane's knowledge how this woman keeps herself mentally stable long enough to take care of her child.

The woman survives long enough and just barely.

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Nearly ten years pass and the girl is old enough to walk and feed herself. Bane notices how the girl keeps her hair cut short so that she may disguise herself as a boy. It fools some men, but not Bane, he knows better than most. Her face is too soft, her eyes too bright and honest. Her bones, so delicate that they look as if they could easily snap. He knows because he watches, he observes everything that goes on within the prison. He observes her most of all, because she is the one anomaly.

The day the girl's mother is broken beyond repair is the day that Bane finally touches an innocent being. He is now a young man of twenty, brutal and hardened by years of torment and hatred. He is crouching in his usual secluded corner, sharpening his shank against a rock when he hears the screams start. He looks up, startled by the sound of female voices. It is there, across the way that he sees the woman who is infamous for giving birth within the jail, struggling under a mob of men who are dragging her away from her cell. She wails and begs for mercy even though she knows she will be shown none.

His icy eyes drift to the right of the scene, falling upon the short and scrawny form of the daughter. Her face is petrified and she isn't moving, as if frozen in time. Bane's mind turns over the possibilities, knowing that the cell is unlocked. He could sit and enjoy the show or he could join in. He finds his feet moving towards the cell and within moments he is inside of it, watching the carnage unfold. He makes as if to move towards the screams of pain when a whimper reaches his sharp ears. Bane looks back towards the girl and sees her dark, grayish blue eyes filled with an image of him. She begins to shake, her strangely beautiful eyes fixed on his face. Bane is transfixed by her gaze.

Out of the corner of his eye, Bane can see another man reaching out to grab the child and it is then that he sees something of his former self within the girl. Despair beyond recognition. She simply looks into his eyes brokenly, but does not cry out for help. She only accepts her fate. Bane figures then, _why shouldn't I have her_? Why should another man have what he has been watching for so long? He has been watching her for years and he simply cannot watch her any more.

Bane moves like a snake, his muscles coiling as he moves to strike the other man down. His fist connects with the man's nose and Bane hears a satisfying crack, feeling the warm spray of blood hit his hand. The man goes down with a shout and scuttles away like a crab. Bane ignores him and grabs the girl up and into his arms, pulling her out of the cell she has lived her whole life in. To her credit she doesn't scream, she only stares at him with those catlike eyes, like she is expecting the worst.

He holds her close and looks down into her small face, thinking about how soft and fragile she feels in his arms. This is not what he expected. Her small fingers grasp his rags and Bane realizes her could keep her instead. Why destroy something so perfect? His large hand circles her neck and he thinks about how easy it would be to destroy her, but the more he looks at her eyes he realizes how much he doesn't want her death.

Her lips tremble and Bane's heart makes its decision before his mind does. He brushes his callused hand through her short hair and whispers against her forehead, "Shh, you are safe, little one. Don't cry."

She squints her dark eyes shut to fight the tears that have been fighting to take over her for the better part of the moment. His lips are warm against her skin and the arms that had been ready to break her suddenly relax around her, holding her with protective intent instead of malicious. The girl does not question these motives; she only accepts that it is a better fate than what had originally awaited her. He is warm, his chest hard against her body. She has never been so close to a man before and her mind can barely grasp how different he is from her mother. His voice is deep like thunder and it lulls her into a sense of security.

She is a child who has only understood how to trust one person, her former protector, her mother. As the last screams in the prison die down, the young girl realizes that she must move on or be left behind. In this cocoon of warmth and muscle, the girl realizes there is only him now. If he can keep her safe from those that took her mother, she will stay with him forever.

Bane feels the moment that the young girl relaxes in his hold. The fight seems to ebb out of her small frame and the prison goes silent. He watches quietly as her mother's limp form is dragged from her cell. Dead, of course. It had only been a matter of time after all. He holds the girl's face in the crook of his neck, feeling her silent tears running down his skin. The child understands death although she has not looked upon the form of her mother yet. Her tears are a sign of weakness, yet Bane allows her to grieve because she is more human than he has been in so long.

"What is your name, child?" He asks against her temple.

His voice is a rumble and the girl momentarily jumps skittishly. She inhales to calm herself and whispers softly in a voice so terribly sweet, her lips brushing his skin, "Talia."

Bane absorbs this knowledge. Her name feels right, as if it has just been burned into his skin.

Perhaps it has and he doesn't plan on letting her go.

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**AN:** Please review and let me know what you think. I have already started on the next part. I am aiming for about 4-5 chapters so I can give you a complete Bane/Talia fic to enjoy :)


	2. Suspicions

**AN: **Thank you for all of the positive responses! You definitely motivate me to write faster :)

If you can't tell already, this is probably going to span from the time these two meet in prison till the time that they are up against our lovely Bruce Wayne. So this fic is going to span many years just FYI.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of these characters.

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The first night without her mother is torture. Time feels endless, slow and enduring. Talia had spent much of the remainder of the day in a state of perpetual shock. It isn't an unusual thing of course, seeing as her whole world has changed as if a switch has been flipped. Her world once consisted of one woman who kept her safe, who fed her and sang beautiful songs at night to help Talia sleep. Just like that, it was all gone. Now she is here with this…man. His cell isn't any more luxurious than the one she had shared with her mother and it certainly seems far more cramped since his bulk fills the space.

At least it is warm with him, because the nights in the desert can be cold and her mother was not always able to provide enough body heat, even for herself. This man -Bane they call him- is like the sun, always warm. Talia is grateful for this, even if her mind is not yet ready to acknowledge it.

As the sun sets in the sky, Bane warily wraps Talia up on his cot in the only blanket he has, figuring the young girl needs it more than he does. He doesn't know what to make of her yet. He doesn't know what to make of the way she cannot take her eyes off of him. He supposes that it is fear that drives her actions and he cannot blame her, for many a man has suffered at the end of his fury. He watches as she curls into herself for warmth as the sun completely disappears, taking the unbearable heat with it. The girl will freeze without another body to keep her warm, that is just the way of things when one is so small and delicate.

Bane smirks to himself; Talia doesn't even have enough flesh on her bones to feed one of the more…_adventurous _men in The Pit.

He watches as she valiantly tries to keep her eyes open to watch him, but he can tell that her lids are becoming heavy from exhaustion. Bane goes and locks the cell door for the night and then approaches the worn down cot. As soon as his body touches the surface, Talia jerks away, her eyes now wide open and alert. Bane snorts and proceeds to lay down with his arms behind his head. He looks up at the dirt ceiling, saying, "If I had wanted to harm you, I would have already done you in, kid."

Talia says nothing, still pressed against the wall as if she is trying to become one with it. While Bane is not used to having company, let alone anyone to talk to, he dislikes this silent treatment he is receiving. "I was under the impression that you could speak," he growls irritably.

Talia glances away briefly, unsure of how to respond. _This is your life now, he is all you have, _she reminds herself, trying to put down the fear she has building inside of her. Bane sees her start shaking again and nearly groans when he realizes that she is having another moment of shock. If he can't fix this girl's brain soon, he might just end up killing her anyway. "Look, little girl, she's gone. She's dead. She ain't fucking coming back. Are you going to be worth my time and energy or not?"

Talia hears his words and understands, giving herself one final mental push to leave behind the 'life' she had before with her mother. He is right and she knows this, even if she doesn't want to accept the fact. It is like having cold water dumped over her whole body as acceptance and grief truly sets in.

There is a long moment of silence and Bane sighs in frustration, figuring he is going to get nowhere with this orphan girl. He rolls onto his side, facing away from her, slightly furious. It is then that he hears her soft voice finally echo in the dark cell. "My mother told me that men are not good people. She told me to stay away from them," she whispers to Bane.

That explains her inherent fear of him. Bane rolls back over so that he is facing her and sees that her eyes are clearer. Good. She has left behind the world of dazed shock. Perhaps he can reason with the young girl now that she is back in her brain where she belongs. "Your mother is right, little girl. The men here are not good people, especially me," Bane replies, his voice sounding so loud and gravelly in comparison to hers.

"Then…why did you save me?"

Bane doesn't even know himself, aside from the fact that he had seen bits and piece of himself as a child in her. Not that she needs to know any of that. "Because I felt like it. What more do you want? Now lay down, I want to sleep before the sun rises again."

Talia hears the finality in his tone, his stern voice. She watches him for a few moments, looking at his body. Talia has no clue where she fits in on this bed, where does she lay? The cot is so small because Bane is so big, her mother didn't take up so much space. She doesn't want to touch him, but it appears that she has no choice. Moving slowly, Talia rests down beside him, cramped between the wall and the side of his body. Nervously, she rests her head on his large bicep and hugs her arms to her chest. He is so warm and the warmth makes her even more exhausted. When he does nothing but begin to breathe deeply, Talia relaxes against him, inhaling his scent, undecided on the matter if she likes it or not.

Sleep overcomes Talia and she greets the dark as it takes her.

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She wakes up sometime before dawn, feeling safe and secure. The soft sound of a heartbeat soothes her, but then Talia is reminded that her mother's heartbeat was never so strong. Nor was her chest so powerful. Nor were her arms so heavily muscled. Talia almost jerks away, but calms when a gentle hand caresses her cheek. "You are up early, princess," Bane mutters, his voice thick with sleep.

Talia flushes as she realizes the reason she has awoken. "I…I have to go to the bathroom."

The arms around her relax just enough so that she can crawl out of their hold. There is a communal 'bathroom' in The Pit, further underground. Bane realizes that he can't just allow her to go by herself since there is a high chance that she will not come back. He stretches as he sits up, cracking his back in the process. "Alright, I'll go with you," he replies.

He unlocks their cell and he follows her to the bathroom. Bane supposes that it is a good thing they are up so early, as few prisoners are up and about at this time. He watches her walk, notices how Talia constantly looks right and left, even sometimes back at him. Whenever their eyes meet she shyly looks away, embarrassed at being caught looking. She is aware of her surroundings and Bane admires that. There may be hope for her after all.

Talia goes to a corner and squats down, relieving herself. She does not pay attention to Bane as she does this, feeling a little more confident that he has her back. He did not harm her in the night; he kept her safe and warm. He is deserving of more trust, she decides. It is when she finishes and turns that she feels dread fill her again.

She did not mean to look. Truly, she did not. It wasn't as if Talia had anywhere else to look and she naturally searched for her new companion, ready to return to the cell. It wasn't necessarily him that scared her, but the thing protruding from his body as he relieved himself, the thing that all the men who harmed her mother throughout the years had possessed. The strange body part that Talia did not have in common with men.

Bane sees her watching and Talia can tell that he is surprised that she is so blatantly staring at it. He finishes, putting the offending object away and he gives Talia a look that clearly says he wants an explanation. She shrugs and steps in the direction of their cell, trying to forget the thing she saw. Talia mentally berates herself; what, did she think he magically wouldn't have one? Did she really think he would be different from all those horrible men that harmed her mother over the years? She should just be grateful he isn't using it on her like those men did to her mother!

Unaware of her internal dilemma, Bane leads Talia out of the bathroom and suddenly hauls her up into his arms. Talia automatically wraps her arms around his neck, glancing around. There are more prisoners awake now and they are giving her looks that scare her. Talia expects someone, anyone, to come up and attack Bane for her. Yet no one does. They arrive back at his cell and he rests her back on the cot gently. Talia can tell that her new companion is a fearsome man that no one wants to mess with.

If Bane is to be her protector, Talia will not question her good fortune. She will take what she can get (no matter what odd body parts he has).

Bane lies beside her on the bed and hugs her to his body. He is not used to this type of human contact. It is innocent and simple and he feels so powerful with her in his arms. He feels like he could take on half the prisoners in The Pit, if only to impress this girl, if only to show her that she can trust him with her life. It is like a fire has begun to burn in his chest, because now he suddenly has meaning in his life.

She has given him a purpose. She has given him an emotion aside from the hate that has been eating away at his heart for all these years.

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Nearly two years pass and Talia has grown brave enough to roam the prison alone. She is agile and moves like water, always evasive. Bane gives her this illusion of independence because he knows she would grow to resent him if he did not. He has watched her grow more confident, watched her come out of her shell. The child who had feared him at first no longer even feared sleeping beside him at night. Now she would become petulant if he did not hold her _just so_ through the night. She would squirm and press against his body as if she were trying to crawl inside him. Her eyes, formerly filled with suspicion became filled with a form of adoration and admiration. Bane must admit, the adoration is much better than the suspicion by far. He can almost imagine that he has become some form of a hero to her.

Bane fears the day that she grows up, because he knows that she will be an attractive young woman, essentially a target. She is so delicate, how could she not be? Her eyes are always flashing with some form of emotion and it lights up her features. He knows that she will incite many a man to break past their fear of Bane to get a chance at her. She has already begun to notice how they look at her although her figure is still that of a boy.

Sometimes she will ask, "Why do they look at me like that?"

"Because they want you," he will always respond grudgingly.

Bane can still see clear as day in his mind how she cocks her head to the side and asks, "Like how you want me?"

His answer always is, "No. I want to protect you. They want to destroy you."

She does not understand because she can't yet understand why it is that these men want her, these men who have not had women in years, some who have never had a woman at all. Talia does not even know exactly what it was that the men would do to her mother. She hasn't a clue because she is so naïve. Bane has had women before, but only the women that have been condemned to live in The Pit. It happens occasionally and he took advantage of a few of the rare times back when he had been a teenager. There haven't been any women since Talia came to live with him in his cell.

So indeed he fears the day the men decided it is time to take her, to take the child that he has protected so well for nearly two years. She is an angel among these sin ridden people and Bane will do anything to keep her that way.

He will do anything to have her keep looking at him like he is the only thing that matters in the world.

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** AN: **Please let me know what you think! You make my day with your comments!

Ok, so this is probably going to be slightly longer than 5 chapters. I had planned on getting Talia out of the prison by the end of this chapter, but then the chapter would not have been posted today since it would take quite awhile to type up over 5000 words after work O.O

40 hour work weeks are a killer on writing time, let me tell you. But I figured you would rather have a chapter than nothing!


	3. Little Do They Know

**AN: **Thank you all for your loving responses! I started on this chapter right away so I could get it out to you. Slightly longer than last chapter hurray! I had fun writing this one too. Hope you all enjoy!

Also, in response to, 'why does Bane swear when he is supposedly so brilliant?' Simple: he is in jail. He isn't educated. He became a more eloquent man AFTER educating himself. I am aware in the comics that he is educated by 'teachers' while in Pena Dura, but in the comics Talia didn't want anything to do with him. So, I'll stick with the movieverse of Bane where he and Talia were in prison together (and not in Pena Dura as it appears) and actually had feelings for each other :)

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the characters!

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Although normally a dry, harsh environment, the desert in which The Pit resides does experience rain. The rainy season comes and goes about once a year, but when it arrives, it arrives _hard. _Every year Talia has in some form enjoyed the rain, as it cooled down the steamy hot days. The soft drops of liquid on her face have always been enough to brighten her day. The taste alone of clean, pure water was a gift all on its own. This season is different. This season Talia falls ill from being cold and soaking wet. It starts out nearly unnoticeable, a small tickle in her throat, and obnoxious tightness in her chest. Talia tries to brush it off like it is simply dust caught in her throat until the coughing just doesn't _stop._

Despite being as emotional as a rock, even Bane has been giving her the eye the past few days. First he was more annoyed that her coughing interrupted his sleep, something that Talia could not control. She felt guilty, but lying down only made things worse and sitting up made it too uncomfortable to sleep soundly. She tossed and turned and her lungs woke her up whenever she fell into a deep sleep. Exhaustion was eating away at Talia and so were the chills. The rain was still pouring and Talia watched it from the safety of her shared cell with Bane, shivering violently. Bane, who was doing his daily routine of pushups on the ground, tried to ignore the sound of her chattering teeth. His companion had not been doing well since the day before when her cough first developed. Now it seemed like she was only getting worse.

He was still doing his workout when Talia weakly walked past him. "Where are you going?" He asks, switching to one armed pushups.

"Bathroom. I feel-" Talia starts coughing violently in the middle of her sentence and Bane almost cringed at the sound it produced.

Talia visibly gags and runs for the communal bathroom, knocking into inmates as she went. Rain falls down on her frame as she passes the center of the prison, soaking her almost instantly. Upon entering the lower level restroom she felt sick by the smell alone. Talia stood by one of the walls and continued to cough and retch, spitting out horrible gunk from her lungs. She briefly felt nauseous, but she fought it down, swaying on her feet. A large hand steadied her and Talia didn't even flinch, familiar with the touch.

"How long has this been going on?" Bane says, his deep voice seemingly echoing in Talia's head as the world spun.

Then a wave of exhaustion hit her and everything went black.

It was this occasion that made Bane realize that his charge may be sicker than he originally thought. He carried her out of the public toilet and past the doctor's cell. Bane paused outside the older man's cell and sighed, figuring he might as well get it over with. He back tracks a few steps so that he was standing in front of the cell, but found that the doctor had already exited his cell to chase after Bane. "Is the child alright? Bring her in, let me see," the man said, his lined face concerned.

Bane complies, entering the doctor's cell and setting Talia upon the cot. "She's been coughing constantly. Shivering. I thought it was just a cold. Then she just passed out after hacking her lungs out."

The doctor, a man in his early fifties, has a good idea on what is wrong already. Rainy season always brought much illness to the prison and this was an illness that he was familiar with. "I suspect she has pneumonia then. I will need to check her to be sure."

Bane rolls his eyes skyward. He has no love of the former doctor, despite the fact that the man had fixed a few of his injuries in the past. The man always acts all knowing, always acting like he has some great purpose here in The Pit, like it is his special privilege to save those that are damned. Bane resents this man's kindness simply because he feels that no one here deserves it. Why not let the convicts die like the dogs that they are?

The doctor warily glances at Bane before he goes to work on the young girl, noticing the aggressive stance the younger man has taken, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. The doctor does not pretend to understand this pair; he hasn't understood them for all the years they have been together. It is not his place to intervene with other prisoners affairs, but he has to admit he almost did when the girl became an orphan. The doctor long lived in the civilized world before being sentenced to The Pit (disagreements with local politicians can be an ugly thing) and he knew as well as any man that has a daughter that you simply do not let young girls live with older men. It was simply not done.

Trying to ignore the piercing eyes watching his every move, the doctor leans down and presses his ear against Talia's chest, trying to listen to her heart and lungs the manual way. It is generally too difficult to hear the lungs without instruments, but he can hear the distinctive rattling. He feels her forehead, noticing the heat and the clamminess of it. "She is coughing up fluid then?"

Bane only nods.

"That is good. As long as the fluid is coming out she should improve. If she were not coughing anything up I would be concerned," the doctor continues, moving away from her chest and down her body.

Bane frowns as the doctor reaches for the waistband of her pants. "What the hell do you think are you doing?" He growls, taking a step towards the man.

The doctor pauses and gives Bane a serious look, neutrally saying, "When I deal with patients in this prison, I give them a full physical for their own well being since I know they will never come back for one otherwise. Infections are a serious issue here and I would prefer to know if this girl has any other infections that may be harming her immune system."

The younger man's face briefly looks horrified. "There is no fucking reason for you to be checking for that."

The doctor chuckles bitterly, "Are you her father? No? I thought not. Therefore, I don't trust you on this matter. Let me do my job."

Bane grits his teeth and clenches his fists, trying to calm down, but the idea of this man seeing her, checking her down there bothers him. Especially since he knows she has never been touched. He watches furiously at the man drapes a blanket over her lap and quickly examines her. Within seconds he is done, finally moving away from Talia. "It seems you were being truthful. She is fine. I commend you for your restraint."

Bane moves to Talia's sleeping form instantly, starting to gather her into his arms. "Commend me for what, old man?"

The doctor is busy selecting a medication from the box of supplies that is dropped down once a month for medical purposes. There is never much and he usually reserves what he is given for people who truly need it. The managers of the prison do not provide medical services, so dropping sparse medical supplies down the hole is all the doctor can rely on. Selecting a few pills, he turns back to Bane and drops them into the young man's hand. He avoids Bane's sharp eyes as he responds, "I commend you for not doing what every other man in this prison would have done by now."

Bane feels his heart tighten at these words, but knows that he shouldn't be so surprised; everyone must have thought that he kept her around for the same reason. The doctor is no exception. Bane has no response to this strangely humiliating compliment. He is still scrambling for a scathing remark when a soft hand touches his chin. He looks down and sees Talia starting to wake up, her eyes still filled with sleep and fever. "Bane?" She whispers to him.

"I'm here," he responds, engulfing her hand in his as gently as he can.

A soft smile graces her lips before she seemingly falls asleep again. The doctor watches the exchange with a guarded expression. "She will need lots of rest and water. Keep her warm even if she feels too hot already. She will get better. I've seen worse cases of pneumonia in my time."

Bane stands with Talia in his arms and grudgingly says thank you to the doctor on his way out. He takes her back to their shared cell and gives her whatever water he can find, holding her close when her shivers begin to take control. She is weak and delirious at times, sometimes calling for her mother, but most of the time all she requires is him and his care. He holds her until the shivering stops and leaves her to rest as he goes in search of food.

The center of the prison has been largely unattended for the time being because of the mass amounts of rain pouring down. However, much of the food given to the prisoners is dropped down daily from above and it would be foolish to not take advantage of food, no matter how soggy. Bane wades through a group of hungry men, pushing and shoving to get his way. His size and strength is on his side always, allowing him to gather food from almost anyone. He absently kicks a man out of his way, ignoring the snarl of protest as the man lands in a puddle.

His prize is a small satchel in the center that the other man had been reaching for. He leans down and grabs it, then turns as if to leave when he sees a blur of movement coming for him. Bane raises his forearm to block the strike and then sidesteps the other arm that comes towards him, holding a handmade knife. The man that he had thrown on the floor appears to be trying to take his revenge. Bane almost smirks as he grips the hand with the knife and squeezes as hard as he can, watching the bones crunch as the man wails in agony.

The other man falls to the wet floor sobbing, holding his destroyed hand close to his chest. Bane watches in disinterest as the man's companion comes forward threateningly. "You're the stupid fuck with that little girl, aren't you? _Aren't you_? You better watch your back, pal, you've got it coming. So does she," the other man sneers.

Bane doesn't put any stock in the threat, he only laughs. "I've got it coming to me? From who? You and your pal? I just crushed his hand, I don't think he can do shit."

The angry man only shakes his head, smiling grimly, saying, "You have no idea what is coming for you. You think you own this place just because you are a tough guy. You're wrong. You can't keep that little girl forever."

Bane is no longer laughing. "Shut up," he hisses, turning away.

"I'll tear that girl up myself! I'll make sure she screams as she bleeds! I'll-"

His voice is cut off in moments as a large hand descends upon his skull. A thumb presses down on his eye and he realizes that baiting one of the most dangerous men in the prison was perhaps not the smartest thing to do. The pressure becomes unbearable as the thumb begins to dig in more and he fears that Bane is about to gauge his eye out in a rage. Bane's eyes are alight with a cold fury as he regards the quivering man before him. "You can do nothing. Do you know why? Because I will kill you if you even try to touch that child," he says, his voice hard as steel.

He squeezes the man's head even more for emphasis on his words. Suddenly, there is an acrid scent and Bane wrinkles his nose. He steps away in disgust as the man wets himself in fear. _Pathetic, _Bane thinks to himself.

Bane leaves the cowering men behind and returns to his sick cellmate, already worried since he has been away far too long. He makes it back, his heart racing for reasons unknown and sighs in relief to find Talia still passed out on their cot, rolled up in their tattered blanket. He shuts and locks the cell door behind him and sits down on the bed beside her, gently stroking her back. The gentle but firm touch wakes Talia up and she rolls over to gaze up at him tiredly. "I brought us food," Bane says softly.

Her small face scrunches up as she says, "But I'm not hungry-"

"That doesn't matter. You need to eat. You're sick, that's why you have no appetite."

"Don't care," Talia growls out in her hoarse, sleep filled voice as she covers her head with the blanket.

Bane pulls the blanket off her head and grips her chin, forcing her to look at him. "You will eat if I have to shove it down your ungrateful throat."

She stares up at his greenish blue eyes and sees how serious he is. Talia sighs and nuzzles into his hand, feeling it gentle at her actions immediately. Bane is stern, like a father would be, but once he gets his way he softens so easily. Talia knows this, and despite disliking his sometimes fatherly actions, she loves when he treats her like something precious.

"I'll eat, but only because you want me to," she says, knowing these words are enough to soften his mood even further.

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It takes two weeks, but eventually Talia begins to feel the exhaustion fade into obscurity. Her cough has mostly disappeared, but sometimes her lungs still protest and subject her to coughing fits. Talia knows she would have never gotten better without Bane and she is grateful that he has the patience to take care of her. He rarely left her side the entire time that she was ill, even staying awake with her when she couldn't sleep because of her lungs constantly spitting up mucus.

She has lost a lot of weight and strength, so Talia joins Bane in his daily workout routine. It is a struggle at first, as she has nowhere near the same amount of strength as the large man, but she begins to improve over a week's time. Talia is great at sit ups and makes Bane proud when she is able to get through one hundred of those early on. It is the pushups that she has the most trouble with and simply can't understand how Bane can crank those out like they are a lightweight exercise. Sometimes he even asks her to lay on his back while he does them just so he has extra weight added to the workout.

At night, they fall into bed together exhausted after a long day of exercise. "Why do you have to be so sticky? Your shirt is soaked," Talia complains.

"So I sweat, what's your point?"

"You are getting it all over me!"

Bane grins up at the ceiling, plotting. "Do you know what is worse?"

Talia turns her head to look at him suspiciously, not quite sure she even wants to know. "What could possibly be worse that you getting your nasty sweat all over me and our bed?"

Bane tries not to think about the connotation of what the young girl just said, because he knows she hasn't a clue. Pushing that thought aside, Bane grins and turns on his side, saying, "This."

He grabs her by the neck and shoves her face by his arm pit, causing Talia to shriek and squirm, trying to get away. "That's disgusting! You're so gross!"

Bane laughs loudly and Talia can feel it vibrate in his chest. He lets her get away, watching in amusement as she tries to wipe her face off. She stands in the middle of the room and glares at him indignantly. "Coming back to bed?" Bane asks casually when she doesn't move.

Talia puts on her pouty face and says, "Only if you ask me nicely. I'd have to be crazy to join you otherwise."

"Please, come back to bed so we can sleep, Talia."

She feels an unusual twinge in her stomach as his deep voice utters those words in the dark. She blushes as she gets back in the bed, unsure of why his tone made her feel so different. She doesn't know and figures it isn't important, so she brushes the feeling away so she can sleep. She snuggles up to Bane's body and lifts his arm so that she can crawl beneath it. Bane smiles at her actions, his eyes already closed. He knows that Talia will position them just as she sees fit so that she is comfortable. It is always amusing to watch her struggle against his weight anyway. Her sighs of frustration as she tries to find the best spot are always entertaining, as is the sigh of relief that she emits when she has found the best way to curl her body around his like a worm.

"Can we possibly use some water to clean up tomorrow?" Talia asks vaguely as she drifts into sleep.

Bane grunts as he hugs her to him tighter. "Sure. This working out has made you reek like an old man's rotting ass."

There is a loud crack as Talia slaps his chest hard in response.

As the pair sleep, little do they know that they are being watched from afar by furious eyes filled with revenge and hate. Little do they know that Talia and Bane and not destined to live out their lives in The Pit for all eternity.

Little do they know.

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**AN: **Review please! I smile every time I get to read your thoughts. You are all so awesome. It definitely makes my day to read your reviews, each and every one!

Oh boy...sure sounds like we are almost getting out of The Pit. Poor Bane, sounds like someone has it out for the dude.


	4. Loss

**AN: **Hello everyone, sorry it took so long to update. I got distracted by tdkr_kink meme over at livejournal and wrote an inappropriate story that you can also find here lol. Then work and migraines got in the way. Ugh. Migraines. They freaking ruin everything. Oh then I created a taliaxbane community over at livejournal and that is slowly growing too hurray! Anyway, thank you all for the wonderful comments! You made me so happy and I hope that I can live up to all of your expectations!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of these characters or the Batman universe.

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"Do you think I look like him?"

Bane pauses in mid sit up and gives her a hard look. "Look like whom?"

Talia is further down the way, unsuccessfully trying to look at her reflection in a puddle. The Pit is not known for its luxuries and mirrors are definitely not one that the creators thought necessary. They must have figured that the prisoners would have broken them anyway for glass to stab and kill with. They would have been correct. "Like my father," she replies, squinting at the water.

Bane knows the answer to this even if he has never seen the man that sired her. "You look like your mother."

Talia gives him a curious glance as he continues his workout. From what little she has seen in the water, she doesn't believe there is any way she looks like her mother. Her mother was beautiful she supposes, but she was always so incredibly sad. "I don't look a thing like her," Talia mutters, more to herself than anything.

Bane moves into pushup formation and begins, trying to keep his mind from wandering into a dangerous territory. Try as he might, his insecurity gets the better of him. "Why are you thinking about him anyway?"

Talia flicks a pebble absently, not looking at her companion. "I don't know. I just…wonder about him sometimes. What is he doing? Is he even alive?"

Bane doesn't know and he doesn't care. Why does this man, who has never been a part of Talia's life mean so much to her? "He's the reason you are here, in this hell hole. Why do you even waste your time thinking about him?"

Talia's eyes flash angrily as she finally turns to look at him. "It's not his fault! And he's not worthless!"

Bane tries to hold back his sneer, but it crosses his features anyway. "Your loyalty is misguided. He is worth _nothing_. What sort of man abandons his daughter and wife in a place like this?"

Even before the words cross his lips, Bane knows the damage is done. Talia's eyes are filled with unshed tears, stricken by his words. Bane sighs and looks away, but does not apologize. He knows he is right and he knows that he should not have to share Talia with an _absent_ man. A man who left her to die where Bane saved her life. Suddenly, there is hand on his cheek and he is looking into Talia's watery, grayish blue eyes. "Your jealousy is misguided, Bane. Even if he was here, he could never replace you," she says, her voice filled with despair and bitterness.

Bane feels himself calm at these soft words, but despite her reassurance, he does not like the bond that she thinks she has with the other man who did not save her. He looks away from her once again, trying to keep her from seeing the anger in his eyes. Although she cannot see his expression, Talia can feel his quiet anger, the quiet anger he always reserves for her. It cuts like a knife and it hurts more than any beating in The Pit might. "Bane?" she asks timidly, her voice raising an octave.

Talia does not like it when he is angry with her. He never does anything to her per se; it is more psychological than anything. When he is angry with her, he ignores her, fumes quietly by himself or works out until he feels better. The alienation from her best friend is devastating every time. "Please talk to me," she asks, her voice quivering.

He continues to ignore her and makes as if to leave the cell entirely. Talia clenches her fists and calls after him furiously, "Stop it! Please listen to me for just once!"

Bane stops beside the cot, but does not turn. Talia climbs up onto the cot to gain some height and grabs his face in both of her small hands once more, turning him physically to look at her again. She feels something wither inside when she finally sees the look in his eyes, the angry disappointed look that she despises, the look that makes her feel so small, like she has committed some heinous crime. She doesn't know what to do; she wants to feel close to him because his anger makes her feel so far away and alone.

She presses her lips against his quickly in desperation, trying to make him come back to her, to stop being so angry. His lips are warm, if not a little dry. His familiar scent fills her nose and Talia decides this action is not so odd after all and her heart is beating so fast that she fears it will hop right out of her chest. However, she feels mortified as Bane's whole frame stiffens and he steps away instantly. "What are you doing?" He hisses.

Talia hangs her head in shame. "I don't know."

It is no lie. She truly and honestly doesn't have any idea. She does not even know that the act is called a kiss.

Bane pinches the bridge of his nose, praying that no one witnessed that moment. "Where did you even learn that?"

She shrugs, pulling deeper into herself, realizing that her action was not the right one. "I saw a few inmates do it, once. They were friends. I thought that was what friends did."

Her voice is so small and pathetic that even Talia is disgusted with herself. Bane groans in frustration. "You are not to do that to me again. Do you understand?"

Talia only nods, wishing that she hadn't done it at all. She doesn't know that in six years time Bane will be wishing he still had the ability to kiss her back, to taste her lips, her skin. She only knows the present and Bane does not want her to touch her lips to his. _Fine_. She will not embarrass herself again.

Humiliated, Talia brushes past him on her way out of the cell. "Talia," Bane sighs, "where are you going?"

"Away from you," she mutters mutinously.

She doesn't think about the dangers of walking about the prison without being focused, she simply doesn't care, not at the moment. She wants to be away from him and his stupid, stubborn self. Talia doesn't want to see the condescending look in his eyes. She doesn't want to see him. Wiping her eyes angrily, she strides to one of the corners in the center ring of the prison and cocks her head back to stare up at the sky, wondering what it would be like to be up there.

She wonders what the world really looks like. Talia wants to know what Bane looks like with the golden sun on his skin. How different would he look? She can only imagine how his face would light up; especially if he smiled that rare, special smile he only gave to her. She briefly thinks about her father and wonders if he even knows that she exists. Bane's words stung. What if her father did just abandon her here to die in his place?

Talia sniffs as her nose begins to run. It simply isn't fair. Why couldn't she have a life up there, with other, normal people? She and Bane could be together, wherever, she doesn't even care, somewhere where they could live without the fear of criminals constantly plotting their demise.

She's never seen anyone make it to the surface, although Talia has watched many try. The idea of climbing up through the tall hole in the world frightens her, but she knows that the climb is the only way she could ever be free. She could never leave Bane behind though. Never. If she goes, he will have to come with and that is all there is to it. Talia would not survive without him. She knows he has considered making the climb as well, but she also knows that she is what holds him back.

It is while she is dwelling on these matters that someone takes notice of her. Someone with designs on malice and destruction, screams and blood. Revenge. Talia and Bane have no shortage of enemies in the prison, precisely why they tend to never separate from each other. It isn't that Bane can't take care of himself; it is simply that Talia would not be able to fight off a hoard of lustful, dangerous men. Talia is staring at her hands contemplating life when two filthy hands grip her small shoulders and tear her away from her perch.

She doesn't even have time to scream before a hand, reeking of some foul odor, covers her mouth instantly. Talia's cries get stuck in her lungs as she struggles, thrashing about in the person's grasp. It isn't long before more hands join in, holding her fast. She is taken to the ground, the rock digging into her back uncomfortably. "Well look who we finally caught all alone…" a snide voice says into her ear.

Talia is terrified beyond all measure. There are too many of them and it is just like what happened to her mother. Where is Bane? Why isn't he helping her? She's going to die and she is half way ready to blame him for not being there for her. She tries to wail as firm hands grasp her legs, but to no avail. Going by instinct and adrenaline, she bites as hard as she can, tasting copper flood her mouth. Blood. It is disgusting and Talia nearly vomits before she spits what she can out. The man who she bit stumbles away in pain, but another simply takes his place, shoving a dirty piece of cloth into her mouth instead. "Hold her still," the new man snarls as she wiggles under him.

The man gripping her reeks of his own filth and Talia nearly gags at the smell, feeling the bile rise in her throat. His hands are all over her body, passing over her rear and small, basically nonexistent chest. The dirty rag in her mouth prevents her from truly screaming aloud, although she is screaming, she simply can't be heard beyond the material. Talia thrashes wildly, but another man had arrived on the scene and now holding her hands down so that she could no longer claw. An emotion beyond panic begins to set in and Talia thrusts her head forward hard into the face of the man on top of her.

Dark spots exploded across her vision as her skull makes contact with his. The man cries out angrily and Talia is able to free one of her hands. She rips the filthy gag out of her mouth and screams the only word she can possibly think of. "_Bane_!"

One of the men holding Talia strikes her harshly across the face, snarling, "Shut up, you bitch!"

But it is too late for all of them; the damage has already been done. A loud roar from across the prison echos in the air, causing all of the men to cringe. They all know who it is and what that means for them. One of the men on the outer edge of the mob backs away, shaking his head, saying, "I'm not waiting around to get killed!"

Talia winces as someone digs their knee into her side. Her body is aching and now she is beginning to regret the moment she left that cell by herself while in the wrong mindset. She lashes out and digs her nails down one man's cheek, watching in grim satisfaction as blood pours from the wounds she left. The man looks ready to take revenge for that act when his head is suddenly turned at an awkward angle with a loud snap. He falls to the ground instantly, dead. Behind him is Bane, breathing hard, hell's fire burning in his blue eyes. Some of the men scatter instantly, but others have a different idea.

Talia watches in horror as they begin to attack her only friend. Bane punches left and right, struggling to reach her. Talia kicks the remaining man holding her and runs to Bane even though she knows she will be no help, not now. "Talia," Bane shouts above the mob, "get away!"

She shakes her head and struggles through the mess until she reaches him, until she is wrapped in his arms. Talia only has moments to breathe in his scent and memorize his face before she is in the air, flying. She shrieks as she lands on a higher ledge where Bane has thrown her. He stares at her meaningfully as the angry mob begins to overtake him. Talia realizes in horror that he means for her to climb. "No," she breathes out, her heart tightening in grief.

She stares at his beloved face, so familiar to her where her own face is not, and watches his lips as he mouths silently, "Goodbye."

Talia does not miss the bitter remorse in his eyes.

He disappears under the mob because there are simply too many to fight. Talia gasps in horror and realizes that her protection is gone along with her friend. There will be no saving her from her mother's fate now. So Talia does what she must in her desperation to continue to live. She climbs.

She leaps up to the nearest ledge and then on to the next, trying to not to cry because that will only hinder her efforts. Talia goes numb mentally as she fights against the knowledge that she has lost her friend and tries to focus on the fear that drives her to survive. There are shouts of rage echoing below her as she ascends to the sun, but Talia pays no heed, breathing in and out against the effort that is shaking her tiny limbs. The strain is unbelievable, but the adrenaline pumping through her lends a strength that she didn't know she had.

Talia ignores the fact that she does not have a rope to catch her if she falls. She will die anyway if she does not leave this hell hole. When she reaches the final ledge, she does not stop to think that this is the spot where all men fail. She only thinks that she will either die here or she will die down there if she retreats. Talia breathes in and makes the leap, feeling the open air around her. She barely feels relief when she actually makes it across. She actually makes it where no man ever has. She hears shouts of outrage rise up from below but she ignores them, ignores the loss of her friend for a few moments more as she struggles up the last few feet.

Then blinding light hits Talia's eyes, stunning her.

She hoists herself up onto solid ground, leaving The Pit behind her. She is quiet, stunned by the beauty of the world around her, the vastness of it all. It is huge, simply because she is a girl who has lived in a hole her entire life. The heat is unbearable and Talia knows she must find a place with water or she will die. Not to mention food. She has never really fended for herself, always relying on Bane to help her. This is a world without Bane though, and she must adjust to it.

Talia is lost for a moment, unsure of what to do. There is no one here for her. Who can she turn to? How will she survive now that she is free of a life of torment? She tosses ideas around in her head, but she keeps coming to the same, horrible answer.

She must find her father.

She must find the man who is called Ra's al Ghul.

Talia will find him and she will return. _They_ will all suffer for what they did to her only friend in the world. They all must _die_. If her father ever cared about her mother, he will help Talia carry out this one wish.

Ra's al Ghul will help her fulfill her vengeance.

As Talia steps forward into the desert, one broken whimper falls from her lips before her heart goes numb.

"_Bane_."

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**AN: **Let me know what you think!

Oh sad day! Talia is free and now Bane is all by his lonesome in pain. Poor dude.  
Also, just a curious thought, was Ra's al Ghul ever Henri Ducard, like truly? Or was that simply a cover alias? I always thought it was a cover up alias, I could be wrong. Ah well.

Secondly. Why, whenever I talk about Bane and Talia, do I always say "Balia?" WTF is wrong with me? Haha.


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